Beef Kebab @ Dubb Restaurant, Istanbul, Turkey

When you are in Turkey, kebab comes to mind. Being the staple food of many here, this barbecue dish has various iterations. And it is sometimes unfair to call something that can be very diverse to a hand held wrap.

On e part of the nicely decorated establishment

One such iteration is our lunch at Dubb. Located at the heart of Istanbul, and close to the main attractions like Sultan Ahmet's Mosque, it is an easy find. Yet, it is not as touristy as some of the other stuff that I ate (and did not make it into the blog). We came about 2-ish, so it was quiet as many had already had their lunch beforehand.

 And I got the lunch set for today.

Warming. 

The starter was a simple mushroom soup. It was that frosty side of spring when we visited so a warm soup is very much needed. There is nothing to shout about really. But simple and honest cream of mushroom. Still good and goes well with the bread they had in store. A portion of side salad came along side too. They also do free refills for the soup, and we all love free soup right? And when it comes to the kebab, you have the option to have beef or chicken. I opted for the red meat and thoroughly enjoyed it. The beef was well charred and has a very strong savoury taste.

Ahh....lunch...

The aroma of garlic is evident and there is a taste of all spice lingering at the background. There is also some sweetness into it. Perhaps its pomegranate syrup? Who knows, But this was a multidimensional meat dish.  The been has a slightly tough texture, not a good thing for people with dentures. But heck, I still have all my teeth intact so I enjoyed this.

The rice was surprisingly flavourful. Do not judge its simple exterior. Its buttery, garlicky and has alot of things going on. I would not be surprised if it was cooked in some veggie or chicken stock. Anyway, rice here a cooked ala Indian pilaf. In fact, cooked rice is is called pilaf! Amazing. The fries were just average, and the pita that came to it was passable. But that is not a knock on the overall experience. The beef and rice are really good and that made a good lunch.

Well, you cannot go wrong with fruit eh? 

To finish it off, we had some sliced fruit before we head off back to the streets.Eating in a basement never felt so decadent. In all due seriousness though, this is one fine restaurant. The place is large and colourful.

The restaurant manager setting out another row of tables. 

The staff is friendly and knows basic English. So if you are here without a local guide, you do not have to worry. In fact, being a modern metropolis, Istanbul operates with various languages, English and Mandarin being common second languages among its people.

The front of the house. 

This is a very fun place to be, with warm waiting staff, great location and generally a noteworthy lunch set. Being TL 35, this was value for money. Fancy a go? The address is as follows:

Binbirdirek Mahallesi, Peykhane Sokak No.34/1-B Sultanahmet, Fatih – İstanbul

If you cannot find the entrance, find this lunch menu sign.
Its worth the trouble.